PCB levels continue to drop at Westport Middle School

WESTPORT — The Guidance II Office at Westport Middle School remains closed to students, but officials said that PCB levels in the room are down to acceptable levels.

NICHOLAS WALECKA

WESTPORT — The Guidance II Office at Westport Middle School remains closed to students, but officials said that PCB levels in the room are down to acceptable levels.

They said work done over the Christmas break helped reduce the indoor air PCB concentration levels to under 300; they registered 530 in December.

Alec Ciminello, current principal at Macomber School but the former middle school principal, leads the PCB removal project for the district. He said the most recent round of testing took place on Jan. 17, and all 20 or so of the rooms (including several classrooms) that were tested passed the town's standard of 300.

The Environmental Protection Agency's standard is 350 for middle-school-aged children, and 450 for adults.

"The amounts of PCB traits in the air in these rooms is significantly lower than the number that we've set," said School Committee Chairman Antonio Viveiros, who noted that there was only one classroom of the rooms tested that registered above 100.

"The rest are well below 100," he said.

Ciminello said that Guidance II room had been painted over the Christmas break with encapsulating paint, a thick, molasses-like substance successfully used to quell levels in other problem rooms at the school.

He also said that at this point, school officials are holding off on reopening the room; they are going to do more work on ventilation to try and further reduce levels.

At one point, Guidance II had levels topping 700, officials said.

Selectmen previously approved a voter-approved loan of $4.3 million to continue work on the project.

PCBs were discovered in 2011 in the middle school window caulking and in glue on ceiling tiles there.

The January testing was the first of four rounds that will be done this school year at a cost of about $50,000, Viveiros said.

School Committee member Michael Sullivan said he would like to see some other form of testing done, such as wipe-samples, especially in areas where food is prepared.

Ciminello acknowledged his request and said he'd relay the message to those doing the testing.

Viveiros said that overall, he was happy with the results of the most recent round of testing.

"A lot of the rooms have been coming down," he said, noting "You see a spike here and there" but results are generally better.